Home from Home - Chronicle of a Vision (Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht)

The epic story of a village on the brink of modernity In this dazzling continuation of his acclaimed Heimat trilogy, Edgar Reitz returns again to Schabbach, where the three earlier works were set. The film tells the story of an inveterate dreamer, his more practical older brother and the beautiful woman who must choose between them, evoking the idealism and the longing for adventure and freedom that drove thousands of Germans from their rural homes to distant South America in the mid-19th century. [12A]

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#1 Angela Skrimshire / Wednesday 28 May, 2014 / 13:40 GMT

This film has just won the Golden Lola for the "Best of German Cinema", its Director (Edgar Reitz) and it cinematographer (Gernot Roll) have both long been acknowledged masters of German cinema. The film has been widely acclaimed in the European press ever since it's first showing (out of competition) at the Venice Biennale last summer.
What on earth are you thinking of, announcing it with so little emphasis, and tucking it away on Wester Hailes Road on the fringes of the city?? (The only possible justification could be nearness to the Airport, but really that does not explain it. )

#2 Seymour Alexander / Wednesday 28 May, 2014 / 19:36 GMT

Like Angela Skrimshire (above) I was also very disappointed at the lack of a Filmhouse 'red carpet' type treatment for the new (and possibly final) Heimat film; you couldn't even manage to squeeze in a still from the movie in your booklet; it was only because I had heard that it was coming (via the internet, not from any announcement from Edinburgh) that I succeeded in locating it in the programme (a search on the keyword 'heimat' didn't find it). Certainly not worth travelling up from London to watch it and brave the popcorn at a local Odeon. I hope the BFI shows a bit more respect for Edgar Reitz at the London Film Festival than he is getting in the Scottish capital.

#3 Angela Skrimshire / Wednesday 28 May, 2014 / 23:05 GMT

I now see that the list of venues has just been corrected, and the page for the Odeon in Wester Hailes replaced by one for the Odeon in Lothian Road! ... which sounds rather better... and maybe has the especially wide screen required for Die Andere Heimat....

But the publicity for the film is still oddly low key, when compared with that for films you are 'featuring' elsewhere on your site ...
eg the 1988 German thriller Die Katze, showing at the same time at the Filmhouse - which (by coincidence stars Gudrun Landgrebe, the unforgettable 'Klärchen' of the first part of Reitz' 'Heimat' Trilogy...)

#4 Seymour Alexander / Thursday 29 May, 2014 / 10:10 GMT

That is good news Angela. Just in case the organizers of the festival are still in doubt about the stature and importance of this film, they can read the Guardian review from last year: (" British fans flock to the village of Woppenroth where the series was filmed, and scriptwriter Peter Moffatt openly admitted he wanted to create "a British Heimat" with the BBC's recent The Village.") http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/01/die-andere-heimat-film-edgar-reitz

#5 Julia Ossenbruegge / Monday 2 June, 2014 / 10:03 GMT

The Edinburgh Film Guild and the Goethe-Institut Glasgow are presenting screenings of 'Heimat - A German Chronicle' at the Edinburgh Film Guild (located in Filmhouse). Screenings start this week and tickets are £10: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/701231

#6 Tom Abell / Thursday 5 June, 2014 / 14:42 GMT

This is the best HEIMAT since the first. I saw it in Venice last year, it is an absolutely magnificent film and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again. I would say it is the highlight of the whole festival, hope that the festival can recognise that.

#7 Malcolm Maciver / Sunday 22 June, 2014 / 08:53 GMT

Thank you to everybody who commented about this film. I was in two minds about going to see it. I remember seeing the original Heimat on TV and being very impressed by it. I wondered if I had the stamina to sit through a 4 hour movie.
Am I glad that on the basis of what people wrote I did go and see it. The film is magnificent. Shot in black and white, with occasional splashes of colour it is a visual treat. It may well turn up on TV , but it really needs to be watched on the big screen. It used sound very well. It reminded me at times of Olmi's movie from the 70s " The Tree of the Wooden Clogs" in it's representation of peasant life and the sense of the rhythm of of the seasons .
This is what is great about film festivals . You get a chance to see movies that will struggle to get a showing. Thank you to the EIFf for putting it on.

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